Bloomberg Rumored For Sale

Michael Bloomberg has said that he'll sell his financial information giant to fund a mammoth philanthropic effort after he quits public office. And Microsoft is interested.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is up for re-election this coming November, has said he wont be returning to his firm Bloomberg L.P. The media and financial information company is the source of much of his wealth, but he said it will be sold to finance a post-public-office charitable binge.
The firm, which is privately held, could fetch up to $10 billion based on its current financial state. The bulk of its revenues come from the 200,000 Bloomberg terminals that are leased to Wall Street firms.
Two names that have been bandied about as potential suitors are Microsoft Corp. and Toronto-based media giant Thomson Corp., which has been shedding some assets to expand in the electronic media and information services. Bloombergs CEO has visited Redmond recently.